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Glite Dictionary
to want to puke

to want to puke

9 8.4
To feel like you are going to throw up
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : tener ganas de vomitar
  • The sight of the spoiled food made me want to puke.
  • makes me want to puke

Boom you happy Last day I'm I just want to puke.

Examples

Synonyms

to retch
vsto want to puke
9 7.2

To make a strong, uncontrolled effort to vomit, sometimes bringing up food from your stomach

is a felt nausea without necessarily forcing physical vomiting
to heave
vsto want to puke
8 6.7

To try to vomit and make a retching sound

is a strong internal nausea and disgust feeling rather than a physical effort
to gag
vsto want to puke
5 5.1

To feel like you will throw up when something touches your throat

is mainly an internal feeling of strong nausea rather than a throat reflex

How Nauseated

to want to puke
  • Informal
9 8.4
nauseated
10 4.5
sick
579 1.0
queasy
7 4.8

Surface Forms

want to puke infinitive
wanted to puke past
wanted to puke past participle
wanting to puke present participle
wants to puke third person singular

Morphology

want + to + puke

The meaning 'to feel like vomiting' is directly compositional from 'want' (to wish) + the infinitival marker 'to' + 'puke' (to vomit), so a learner who knows the constituents can derive the overall meaning. This follows a common desire + infinitive pattern found across languages; although 'puke' is informal, the semantic relation is transparent to a B1 learner familiar with the verb.

Etymology

Want to puke gives a strong image: something makes your stomach turn and you feel you must puke, that is, 'vomit'. That's why it means 'to feel very sick or very disgusted'.